Introduction of the Tropical Rainforest
Tropical rainforest is one of the earth's most spectacular natural wonders! It seems to be mysterious for many people. A place of wilderness, where there are lots of trees and few people live there. They called because they grow in those parts of the world where there is heavy rain all the year round. They flourish in or near the tropics, in the hot regions that lie either side of the equator. The atmosphere in tropical rainforest is permanently humid – hot and damp. A rainforest is often referred to as a jungle, which is a Hindi word from India meaning a wilderness. A true jungle is a thick tangle of vegetation, through which people have to force and cut their way. Rainforests contain patches of jungle, but mainly they are more open. The forest floor is covered with rotting leaves. Rainforest trees are very tall broadleaved evergreens. The tallest trees have buttress roots, wing-like growths that are out from the base of the trunk to act as props, while others have to grow down from the trunk or branches, and arches. All the trees carry their branches and leaves at the top of long slender trunks, forming a huge umbrella-like green The dense canopies have much of the daylight, leaving a shady green world beneath it. The rainforests contain more different species of plants and animals than any other part ofworld even more than the oceans that cover nearly three-quarters of the earth. A forest in the tropics has between five and twenty times as many species of trees as one in the temperate zone of North America or Europe, but there are relatively few of each species. Rainforests provide a home for many of the world's most fascinating animals.
Tropical Rainforest Plants Bromeliads are related to the pineapple family. This plant has thick, waxy leaves shaped like a limp palm tree. The center has a dip in it to catch rain water. This plant can hold several gallons of water. The miniature ecosystems in this plant have several creatures’ salamanders, snails, beetles and frogs and their tadpoles, and mosquito larvae for their homes. The ones that die they fall off and give the plant nutrients. There was a bromeliad plant that was found to have a cockroach, flies, spiders, a scorpion, woodice, a earthworm and small beetles , crane flies, earwigs, fly larvae, and a millipede. Orchids have one of the largest flowering plant families. They have over 20,000 known species and orchids that are common in the tropical regions. Most of the orchids grow soil; tropical orchids are more often epiphytes which grow non-parasitically on trees.Orchid flowers can grow differently vary in shape color and sizes, although they share a common pattern of three petals and three petal-like sepals. The lower petal has a very different appearance. Carnivorous Plant - Some plants usually are used to obtain food from animal matter. The best known of these is probably the Venus fly trap, but the best one is the pitcher plant Nepenthes Rafflesiana, found in Southeast Asia. This plant grows to 30 feet tall and may have 12 inches of pitchers in length, usually full of digested insects. Pitcher plants also eat small mammals and reptiles that attempt to steal the insects from the pitcher. Heliconias Plant -Heliconia pests and disease, are few and far between. Heliconia are also referred to as Heliconia sharonii plant, Heliconia, Lobster claw plant and helikonios. Heliconia are generally grown from shoots or seeds. There are also several different varieties that are close relatives of gingers, bananas, birds-of-paradise and traveler's palms. There are about 350 species making up the single genus, with the bulk of them originate from Central and South America. They have bold, bright flashy colors from hot pink to forest green, lemon yellow to shades of burgundy dark as night, Heliconia need attention. Blooms can take the form of stiff or hanging spirals of colourful bracts. Many tropical landscapes all around the world, Heliconia they are able to grow in a simple pot.
Strangler Figs - Are members of the fig family. In the Spanish family they are known as matapalo - 'killer tree'. The seed of the strangler fig starts life as an epiphyte high in the trees, the fig fruit are eaten by the birds and monkeys the seedling fig sends down long roots to the ground from where it begins to surround the tree. It grows quickly and eventually covers the hold tree. The host tree dies it leaves a big upright strangler fig with a hollow core. At ground level the adult tree as the host, the fig avoid competing for light and nutrients.
Mangrove Rainforest Treehave a different support system. Mangroves grow in muddy wet soil at the water's edge tides and could flood. The support for this tree can get a lot of develop pitchfork-like roots of the tree from the trunk which grows downwards The root hooks on themselves in the dirt trapping it to the tree which makes it hold together. Red Mangrove Tree grew the farthest out in the tidal zone where their roots may be flooded by water all or most of the day. Because they grow in soft wet mud and their roots have more difficulty getting enough oxygen from underwater, red mangroves produce long external roots from high winds and strong waves while they draw in extra oxygen for the tree. The submerged roots have special layers that filter out salt while allowing fresh water to enter. This allows the trees to survive in either fresh or salt water. Red mangroves have developed seeds that begin to germinate while they are still on the trees. This helps by allowing them to get a head start on other species. The seed propogules are long, thin sprouts that may float in the water or lie for along time in the mud for many months until conditions are right to establish and grow. They also have White and Black Mangrove Trees in the rainforests. Epiphytes, or air plants, can grow everywhere and be found mainly on the branches, trunks, and even the leaves of trees. The name 'epiphyte' comes from the Greek word 'epi' this means 'upon' and 'phyton' means 'plant'. There are different types of epiphytes which may grow on the same tree, including orchids, cacti, bromeliads, aroids, lichens, mosses and ferns. They start out their life in the canopy from seeds or spores and they are transported to birds or winds. Kapok Tree -The crown has an open umbrella shape, its wood color varies from pinkish-white to brown. The Kapok tree is between 500 and 4,000 fruits at one time, each fruit have up to 200 seeds. The fiber is eight times lighter than cotton and a little more buoyant than a cork, it has extreme thermal insulating as well as being odorless, non-allergic and non-toxic.The industrial use includes filling for pillows, mattresses and also life jackets, it’s the giant of the Amazon rainforest, towering up to 200 feet (70 meters) in height and a trunk that can expand to 9 or 10 feet in diameter. This is known as Ceiba in Ecuador and arbol de lupuna in Peru, the Ceiba Pentandra which belongs to the balsa family tree. The Amazon rainforest Indians used this to make dugout canoes that can use up to 12 men and several months to complete. Natives of the Amazon rainforest have many uses for the kapok tree, even for medicine uses. The seeds, leaves, bark and resin is used to treat fever, asthma, disentery and kidney disease. It has been considered sacred for indigenous people of the Americas, including the Mayan culture. They also use this kapok floss to wrap around their poison (cuare) darts to be blown out of their blowguns. Climate of the Tropical Rainforests
The tropical rain forest climate is a very wet environment, as you hear from the name that contains "rain". The total rainfall for the year is between 1500 and 2500 mm. There is no dry season. Rain falls nearly every day. The temperature during the day is around 30ºC - 35ºC. At night it drops to 68 degrees between (20ºC - 25ºC). It’s a little difference between the warmest and the coolest months. The relative humidity is always high and the temperature is 93 °F (34 °C) The type of climate in the tropical rain forest is known as equatorial climate.The average humidity is between 77 and 88%; rainfall is often more than 100 inches a year.
Rainforests that are located in the tropics or ten degrees within the equator have year-round warm weather. Subtropical rainforests that lay outside of the tropics have seasonal changes in their weather. There are a couple of types of rainforests and they are categorized by the types of weather they have during the year and where they are located. The names of these rainforests are monsoon, equatorial, and subtropical. Many trees in the rainforest have canopies on them, providing shade for the animals and plants. The canopies help shield the plants and animals from the scorching sunlight. The rainforests are very humid due to the warm sunlight, rain and the canopies shading over the plants keeps in the moisture.
Tropical rainforest is one of the earth's most spectacular natural wonders! It seems to be mysterious for many people. A place of wilderness, where there are lots of trees and few people live there. They called because they grow in those parts of the world where there is heavy rain all the year round. They flourish in or near the tropics, in the hot regions that lie either side of the equator. The atmosphere in tropical rainforest is permanently humid – hot and damp. A rainforest is often referred to as a jungle, which is a Hindi word from India meaning a wilderness. A true jungle is a thick tangle of vegetation, through which people have to force and cut their way. Rainforests contain patches of jungle, but mainly they are more open. The forest floor is covered with rotting leaves. Rainforest trees are very tall broadleaved evergreens. The tallest trees have buttress roots, wing-like growths that are out from the base of the trunk to act as props, while others have to grow down from the trunk or branches, and arches. All the trees carry their branches and leaves at the top of long slender trunks, forming a huge umbrella-like green The dense canopies have much of the daylight, leaving a shady green world beneath it. The rainforests contain more different species of plants and animals than any other part ofworld even more than the oceans that cover nearly three-quarters of the earth. A forest in the tropics has between five and twenty times as many species of trees as one in the temperate zone of North America or Europe, but there are relatively few of each species. Rainforests provide a home for many of the world's most fascinating animals.
Tropical Rainforest Plants
Bromeliads are related to the pineapple family. This plant has thick, waxy leaves shaped like a limp palm tree. The center has a dip in it to catch rain water. This plant can hold several gallons of water. The miniature ecosystems in this plant have several creatures’ salamanders, snails, beetles and frogs and their tadpoles, and mosquito larvae for their homes. The ones that die they fall off and give the plant nutrients. There was a bromeliad plant that was found to have a cockroach, flies, spiders, a scorpion, woodice, a earthworm and small beetles , crane flies, earwigs, fly larvae, and a millipede.
Orchids have one of the largest flowering plant families. They have over 20,000 known species and orchids that are common in the tropical regions. Most of the orchids grow soil; tropical orchids are more often epiphytes which grow non-parasitically on trees.Orchid flowers can grow differently vary in shape color and sizes, although they share a common pattern of three petals and three petal-like sepals. The lower petal has a very different appearance.
Carnivorous Plant - Some plants usually are used to obtain food from animal matter. The best known of these is probably the Venus fly trap, but the best one is the pitcher plant Nepenthes Rafflesiana, found in Southeast Asia. This plant grows to 30 feet tall and may have 12 inches of pitchers in length, usually full of digested insects. Pitcher plants also eat small mammals and reptiles that attempt to steal the insects from the pitcher.
Heliconias Plant -Heliconia pests and disease, are few and far between. Heliconia are also referred to as Heliconia sharonii plant, Heliconia, Lobster claw plant and helikonios. Heliconia are generally grown from shoots or seeds. There are also several different varieties that are close relatives of gingers, bananas, birds-of-paradise and traveler's palms. There are about 350 species making up the single genus, with the bulk of them originate from Central and South America. They have bold, bright flashy colors from hot pink to forest green, lemon yellow to shades of burgundy dark as night, Heliconia need attention. Blooms can take the form of stiff or hanging spirals of colourful bracts. Many tropical landscapes all around the world, Heliconia they are able to grow in a simple pot.
Strangler Figs - Are members of the fig family. In the Spanish family they are known as matapalo - 'killer tree'. The seed of the strangler fig starts life as an epiphyte high in the trees, the fig fruit are eaten by the birds and monkeys the seedling fig sends down long roots to the ground from where it begins to surround the tree. It grows quickly and eventually covers the hold tree. The host tree dies it leaves a big upright strangler fig with a hollow core. At ground level the adult tree as the host, the fig avoid competing for light and nutrients.
Mangrove Rainforest Tree have a different support system. Mangroves grow in muddy wet soil at the water's edge tides and could flood. The support for this tree can get a lot of develop pitchfork-like roots of the tree from the trunk which grows downwards The root hooks on themselves in the dirt trapping it to the tree which makes it hold together.
Red Mangrove Tree grew the farthest out in the tidal zone where their roots may be flooded by water all or most of the day. Because they grow in soft wet mud and their roots have more difficulty getting enough oxygen from underwater, red mangroves produce long external roots from high winds and strong waves while they draw in extra oxygen for the tree. The submerged roots have special layers that filter out salt while allowing fresh water to enter. This allows the trees to survive in either fresh or salt water.
Red mangroves have developed seeds that begin to germinate while they are still on the trees. This helps by allowing them to get a head start on other species. The seed propogules are long, thin sprouts that may float in the water or lie for along time in the mud for many months until conditions are right to establish and grow. They also have White and Black Mangrove Trees in the rainforests.
Epiphytes, or air plants, can grow everywhere and be found mainly on the branches, trunks, and even the leaves of trees. The name 'epiphyte' comes from the Greek word 'epi' this means 'upon' and 'phyton' means 'plant'. There are different types of epiphytes which may grow on the same tree, including orchids, cacti, bromeliads, aroids, lichens, mosses and ferns. They start out their life in the canopy from seeds or spores and they are transported to birds or winds.
Kapok Tree -The crown has an open umbrella shape, its wood color varies from pinkish-white to brown. The Kapok tree is between 500 and 4,000 fruits at one time, each fruit have up to 200 seeds. The fiber is eight times lighter than cotton and a little more buoyant than a cork, it has extreme thermal insulating as well as being odorless, non-allergic and non-toxic.The industrial use includes filling for pillows, mattresses and also life jackets, it’s the giant of the Amazon rainforest, towering up to 200 feet (70 meters) in height and a trunk that can expand to 9 or 10 feet in diameter.
This is known as Ceiba in Ecuador and arbol de lupuna in Peru, the Ceiba Pentandra which belongs to the balsa family tree. The Amazon rainforest Indians used this to make dugout canoes that can use up to 12 men and several months to complete.
Natives of the Amazon rainforest have many uses for the kapok tree, even for medicine uses. The seeds, leaves, bark and resin is used to treat fever, asthma, disentery and kidney disease. It has been considered sacred for indigenous people of the Americas, including the Mayan culture. They also use this kapok floss to wrap around their poison (cuare) darts to be blown out of their blowguns.
Climate of the Tropical Rainforests
The tropical rain forest climate is a very wet environment, as you hear from the name that contains "rain". The total rainfall for the year is between 1500 and 2500 mm. There is no dry season. Rain falls nearly every day. The temperature during the day is around 30ºC - 35ºC. At night it drops to 68 degrees between (20ºC - 25ºC). It’s a little difference between the warmest and the coolest months. The relative humidity is always high and the temperature is 93 °F (34 °C) The type of climate in the tropical rain forest is known as equatorial climate.The average humidity is between 77 and 88%; rainfall is often more than 100 inches a year.
Rainforests that are located in the tropics or ten degrees within the equator have year-round warm weather. Subtropical rainforests that lay outside of the tropics have seasonal changes in their weather. There are a couple of types of rainforests and they are categorized by the types of weather they have during the year and where they are located. The names of these rainforests are monsoon, equatorial, and subtropical. Many trees in the rainforest have canopies on them, providing shade for the animals and plants. The canopies help shield the plants and animals from the scorching sunlight. The rainforests are very humid due to the warm sunlight, rain and the canopies shading over the plants keeps in the moisture.